Tough Mudder
by Cubit2
Summary: Lou called Danny the weakest link. The team seemed to agree. Danny didn't argue. What does that all mean? My attempt at making sense of what the writers did with that episode. (Includes Lou, Max, Kamekona and Flipper)


Tough Mudder Tag to ep 6.05 Ka 'Alapahi Nui (Big Lie) - Spoilers

AN: I don't own the characters or anything. This is just to get this story out of my head.

A/N I suspect I'm not the only one who felt totally cheated at the end of this episode. We needed way more Tough Mudder coverage (and we always need way more Danny). And what was with making him the weakest link? Seriously? Have the writers looked at him? Anyway, this is my attempt to explain that. Hope you like it.

Thanks to Wenwalke who beta'd this for me.

H50 H50 H50

Race and pictures over, the team went to the Palace for showers and clean clothes before sharing a celebratory dinner together.

Steve and Danny showered first. Sometimes rank had it's privileges for the first and second in command. Having finished, Danny reluctantly allowed Max to check his throbbing, injured ankle. Considering he couldn't really put any weight on it he didn't have much choice. Steve stood watching, arms crossed, ever the watch-dog over his best friend. "You sure you know what you're doing Max? You usually work on dead people." The bantering was a game Danny even played with the quirky coroner.

"That can be arranged, Detective."

"Very funny. I've told you. Call me Danny." He hissed in pain as Max twisted his ankle. Danny was sure he did that on purpose right then.

"Danny," everyone knew that the next time Max would call him Detective again. It drove Danny crazy but it was part of the game they played, "does that elicit pain?"

"Elicit pain?" He hissed again. "You can say that."

"Is it broken?" Steve asked.

"I don't believe so, however it is not possible to be conclusive without an x-ray and with this much swelling. From the evidence I have before me however, I deduce that it is most likely a severe sprain, the pain of which can mimic that of a fracture."

"Wonderful," Danny retorted sarcastically.

"I will wrap it to reduce the swelling," he said as he began to do just that. "You can take ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation and help with some of the pain. You should ice it on and off every 20 minutes for the rest of the day and tomorrow when you are awake. You should stay off of it and keep it elevated for the next several days as well. And Detective…"

"Danny."

"Danny, if the swelling does not go down and the pain does not decrease, you need to get an x-ray for a more conclusive diagnosis."

"He gunna live?" Lou asked as he walked out of his office and into the main room where Max was tending to Danny.

"I believe that Detective Williams... Danny," he corrected himself, "is in excellent health. He will most certainly live for many more years."

"Unless Super SEAL gets me killed," Danny said with a laugh as he nodded towards his partner.

"That can be arranged Danno," Steve laughed back.

"Why is everyone offering to kill me?"

"You have to ask?" Lou replied.

Danny was often, close to always, the center of the jokes around Five-O. Occasionally, it got to him, but most of the time he knew it was just the kind of response his unique personality drew out and he went right along with it, even spurring it on. Lou's comment earlier that week that he was the weakest link was one of those moments that got to him, especially when the rest of the team, Steve included, backed him up on it. Knowing that if he spoke now, he would most likely say something he'd regret Danny found it prudent to say nothing at all to Lou's latest remark.

His reticence was not lost on Steve.

Later, Danny was settled in the passenger seat of the Camaro with the crutches in the back and Steve driving. Danny had said very little since he blatantly ignored Lou's taunting question and his silence appeared to be continuing in the car so Steve tried to break through.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"How's the ankle?"

"Just peachy."

"And Lou?" Steve pushed the button.

"How the hell should I know?"

"There something going on I should know about?" Steve asked, sounding like the boss rather than a friend.

"No."

"Look, I know something's bothering you…"

"My ankle may be busted and you know something's bothering me? Great detective work."

"There's something more than that Danny." Steve glanced over and briefly squeezed his friend's arm. "Danno?"

"It's nothing, Steven. I'm fine. Just let it go, alright?"

Steve tried to piece together what was going on. It seemed to have something to do with Lou, but he couldn't figure out what. Lou was just being Lou. He was always busting on Danny for something. Then he remembered Lou's comment when they were training that the team was only as strong as the weakest link, then clearly identified that weakest link as Danny. Danny had said nothing in protest; he just took the jab as he took all the others. But, thinking on it, that had to have hurt.

Danny dished out the jabs and jokes freely to all the team members, Steve especially, but there was never any bite to it. When it came back to him, however, it usually came back four-fold, with everybody going at him together. Danny always took it well, never getting angry. He always took as well as he gave. But that weakest link comment hit Danny right where it mattered. After Grace, and now Charlie too, the most important thing to Danny was being a cop.

The first day they met, when you could by no means call them friends yet, Danny had confided to Steve that being a cop was the only thing he did well. He took pride in that and he liked being reminded that he did it well. Being told he was the weakest link by a team member had to have felt like a hit below the belt. And, Steve realized, none of the others, himself included, had said anything in Danny's defense. In fact, they had each made it perfectly clear that Danny was the only one they weren't sure could handle this race. Steve had said it would take an act of God for Danny to finish. Steve didn't really think that at all. Danny was strong and fit and stubborn and determined. He disliked the kind of training that the others enjoyed but that didn't mean he wasn't in shape. In fact, Danny had handled the race extremely well, especially excelling in the parts that required upper body strength like King of the Swing and the Funky Monkey bars. Even after the ankle injury, Danny's strength and determination and downright stubbornness, drove him on.

Danny was obviously trying not to let it bother him, however, and would not relish being called out on his sensitivity to the comments. Steve would have to proceed lightly. He tried to come up with something to say but stopped when Danny reached over and turned on the music, his Bon Jovi cd playing loudly in the small space. Steve stared out the front window at the road as Danny stared out the side at the passing scenery.

Arriving at the bar first, Lou arranged for a table for the five team members, plus Max, Kamekona and Flipper, and an extra chair for Danny's leg at the end of the table. He even brought in a big soft blanket from his trunk to place on top of the extra chair to make it more comfortable. He could tell Danny's ankle really hurt. The man had put no pressure on it at all – no attempt whatsoever to pretend it was something he could walk off. Lou had no idea how he finished the race like that but he was impressed. Jersey tough, Jersey strong, he thought to himself. He liked Danny. They were very different in many ways, but Danny was a fine detective and a truly decent man under the snarky talk and rants. His self-deprecating sense of humor was incredible and, man, could the guy take a joke just as well as he could dish them out. It constantly tempted Lou to push the envelope with him.

As everyone came in, Lou pointed out that the chair at the head of the table was for Danny with the chair for his leg to the right. Nobody took the chair to the left either. That was clearly Steve's chair. The two always sat next to each other. The team laughingly figured it made it easier to bicker with each other that way, but they all knew it went deeper than that. The two men were like two sides of the same coin – completely different yet totally dependent on the other. Hard to figure how that happened between two very independent men.

Outside, Steve parked the car and then turned and grabbed the crutches from the back seat. "So, what did you think of the Mudder race? Would you do it again next year?"

"You're seriously asking me this now?" Danny asked incredulously, waving vaguely at his swollen and wrapped injured ankle.

Steve was out the door already and bringing the crutches around to Danny who was getting out the passenger side. "Yeah, as good a time as any."

Danny sighed as he hauled himself upright onto his left foot with the aid of the crutches. "As good a time as any?"

"Yeah. Look Danno, next year you won't be doing this a week after donating bone marrow and you won't have some guy take you out on a mud hill and ruin your ankle."

"You can promise me that, huh?" Danny asked with a smirk.

"Yes, yes I can. So, what do you say? You in for next year?"

Steve waited, hoping that Danny would say he enjoyed it, hoping he'd say he'd do it again next year. "I don't know Steve. I need to sit down." He headed toward the bar door. "You coming?"

Steve sighed, having gotten nowhere with his friend.

Inside, Chin was keeping a lookout for them and cleared a path for Danny straight to the table. "Hey brah, Lou got a chair to prop your leg up on and a blanket to make it more comfortable." He pointed out the set up and helped Danny sit down and put his leg up on the extra chair.

"Thanks Lou," Danny said, surprised by the act of kindness.

"The Longboard's for you, too," Lou said, indicating the sweating bottle by his plate. "I owe you that one."

"You owe me a lot more than that, Lou," Danny said. The two had made a big bet on the National League Championship series and Danny's Mets had swept Lou's Cubs in four games. Steve, however, had the feeling that there was something deeper to his partner's words.

"Hey Danny, Max said you need to ice it every 20 minutes so I stopped and got a bunch of those disposable cold packs. Now you can stay as long as you like." Kono produced one, bashed her fist into it to release the liquid into the crystals and then shook it to make it cold. She placed it on her teammate's throbbing ankle. "How's that?"

"Cold," was Danny's only reply as he settled back in the chair and closed his eyes for a moment.

"I think that's the idea, Blondie," Kamekona said, making everyone laugh.

The waitress came then and delivered their drinks and took their food order.

"You look like you're enjoying that Williams. Remind you of New Jersey?" Lou asked, laughing as he pointed to the cold pack on his ankle.

"Wrap my whole body in it and then it might," Danny replied with a sigh. "I miss the four seasons."

"The Four Seasons? I know they're a Jersey band but come on man," Lou threw out there, twisting Danny's words to make a joke at his expense. "Let me guess, your favorite is 'Silence is Golden'?"

And the team was off, joking about how appropriate 'Silence is Golden' was for Danny. Nobody had any clue of the lyrics, the title alone was enough to tease their talkative teammate. Then they segued into other songs and kept right at him, Danny taking the banter in stride. Kono had to look up the old band name on the internet with her phone but got a good laugh when she told the blond teammate, "Hey Danny, they're playing our song – 'I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You.'"

Kono had been keeping an eye on the time and she removed the warming cold pack from Danny's ankle after the required 20 minutes without saying a word. She would put another cold one on in another 2o minutes.

Continuing with the Four Seasons band jokes, Danny's self-deprecating sense of humor hit full stride when he claimed that the song 'Why Do Fools Fall in Love' had been his wedding song. Finally ending the whole thing by having everybody in stitches as he sang the final verse "Why does my heart skip a crazy beat? For I know it will reach defeat! Tell me why, tell me why? Why do fools fall in love?" He actually had a decent singing voice but just listening to him poke fun at himself like that was too much for the team to handle.

"I never knew you could sing, Jersey," Flipper said once the laughter died down.

"You call that singing?" Steve joked.

"Well, no glasses or mirrors broke and the dogs aren't howling," Chin pointed out.

The waitress came with the food. "You sound like you're having a good time over here," she said as she served the dishes. They all agreed.

Steve realized that almost the whole time had been spent teasing Danny but that his partner seemed to be handling it just fine.

The waitress focused on Danny now. She was young and attractive, mid 20's, brown hair and eyes, petite.

"You okay? Can I get you anything?" she asked him.

Danny's cheeks turned pink from the attention. "No thanks. These clowns are taking care of me just fine."

She looked at the team doubtfully. "Well, if you need anything, you just give me a wave, honey."

"You're blushing," Kono teased as the waitress left.

"No, I'm not," Danny protested as he turned a deeper shade of red.

"Too bad you didn't break it," Steve said, "or she would have wanted to sign your cast."

"Might have gotten her phone number on there," Chin added.

"Just plain bad luck," Kamekona told them.

As they began eating their food, Max spoke up. "So Detective Williams…"

"It's Danny," the detective corrected as usual.

"Yes, you are quite correct. Danny, how did you injure your ankle?"

"Yeah Williams," Lou added. "How did you manage to hurt yourself? We've been so busy babysitting you, we never got the story." Everybody laughed again attheir blond teammate's expense.

Steve saw something flare in Danny's eyes and spoke up before anything could happen. Danny had been so relaxed and happy, in fact the whole team had, he didn't want to ruin it. "Wasn't his fault, Lou," Steve said with maybe a touch more attitude than he would normally use. "Some big guy couldn't handle the Mud Mountain and took Danny out on his way down."

"It was a pretty bad tumble," Kono said. "Landed right at my feet."

It was Chin's turn now. "Danny got up right away. Said 'Let's go. We have a race to finish.' Started limping back up that same hill."

"How far through the course was this?" Flipper asked.

"About two thirds," Steve said. "We helped him along. It's a team sport after all."

"That wall most definitely took teamwork," Kono said with a smile, before they explained how the four of them all managed to get over the high wall. But for Danny's stubborn determination and upper body strength they wouldn't have been able to get him over since he couldn't make a run for the wall as it normally required. "But the drop on the other side was more than his ankle could take."

Steve picked up the narration, pride evident in his voice. "After that, he couldn't put weight on it anymore. We tried to get him to stop and get it checked out but he steadfastly refused. Kept pointing out the Widows and Orphans fund. So Chin and I took up either side and Danny hopped one footed the rest of the way."

"Pretty impressive Jersey," Kamekona said.

"I'm wondering how your doctor gave you permission for that race in the first place, just a week after that bone marrow transplant," Max said.

Steve spoke up again and looked at Danny with pride. "The doctor didn't. He's supposed to be taking it easy."

"Damn Williams," Lou said, impressed, "and you call HIM crazy?" He pointed at Steve as he spoke. Lou lifted his bottle in a toast to Danny, then mumbled loud enough for all to hear. "Great, now we have two Super SEALs."

Steve leaned over and whispered to Danny, "You're not a weak link of this ohana; you my friend, are the glue." Nobody thought twice of the whispered words. The two best friends were always doing that.

Danny looked at Steve, an unspoken conversation passed between them. Danny realized that Steve knew what was bothering Danny and he understood – and now Steve was telling him that it was time to let it go. Steve felt Danny's gratitude in his eyes.

Smirking at Danny, Steve then lifted his bottle. "To next year's race." He hoped this worked.

Everyone lifted their bottles and glasses, except Danny. All eyes were now on him. He looked at Steve whose gaze assured him that all was well.

"We can't do it without you," Chin said.

"We won't do it without you," Kono added.

Then Danny smiled, feeling better now about his place with the team after the short-lived insecurity. "To next year's race," he agreed.

Bottles and glasses were put down, replaced in the hands by knives and forks as dinner continued. "What are you eating Danny?" Chin said as he looked at Danny's plate of grilled chicken and vegetables. "Where's the bacon double cheeseburger?"

"And the fries smothered in gravy, man?" Kono jumped in. "What is that healthy looking stuff you're eating? You sure your body can handle it?"

Steve laughed, shaking his head.

They were at it again, but once more, with that short period of self-doubt now in the past, Danny was okay with it.

Danny smiled his full mega-watt smile and lifted his Longboard bottle. "To ohana," he said.

"To ohana!" the team replied.

finish


End file.
